Video: Widget browser updates

Adobe Labs recently released the Widget Browser, an Adobe AIR application that lets you preview and configure AJAX widgets for use within your sites. Prior to Dreamweaver CS5.5, you had to download and install the Widget Browser separately from Dreamweaver. With the CS5 release, the Widget Browser is now included when installing Dreamweaver. Adobe has also added some integration improvements to how Dreamweaver and the Widget Browser work together. So I have the tours.htm page open in the 03_02 folder.

This course covers the enhancements to the latest release of Adobe's web design and development software. Author James Williamson examines Dreamweaver's updated support for current Web standards, such as code hinting for HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery, and new W3C-compliant code validation. James also demonstrates the new features introduced specifically for mobile development that allow developers to download, install, and configure native applications for Android and Apple iOS. These features include support for PhoneGap integration, jQuery mobile framework, native binaries, and platform emulators launched directly in Dreamweaver.

Widget browser updates

Adobe Labs recently released the Widget Browser, an Adobe AIR application thatlets you preview and configure AJAX widgets for use within your sites.Prior to Dreamweaver CS5.5, you had to download and install the Widget Browserseparately from Dreamweaver.With the CS5 release, the Widget Browser is now included wheninstalling Dreamweaver.Adobe has also added some integration improvements to how Dreamweaver and theWidget Browser work together.So I have the tours.htm page open in the 03_02 folder.

And let's just go ahead, check out the Widget Browser, and what it can do for us.I am going to go right up to my Application toolbar right up top.On the Mac, that will be docked below the menu, and there's this little dropdownmenu that says Extend Dreamweaver.This is one of the easiest ways to launch the Widget Browser.So I am just going to grab that pulldown menu and I am going to hit the Widget Browser.Now, the time that you launch the Widget Browser after installing CS5.5, youmight have a couple of dialog boxes to say yes to, but you're simply just sortof agreeing to use it.Now, we have covered the Widget Browser before in previous titles, so this isn'tso much a movie on how to use the Widget Browser;it's a movie on the improvements to the integration of Dreamweaver and theWidget Browser, and some of the features that exist now that didn't exist before.

So the first thing I am going to do is go out to the Exchange, and in AdobeExchange you are able to find out all the new cool widgets they have available,and this list is growing all the time,so be sure to check back if you're looking for a specific functionality.What I would like to do to my Explore California site is place a few Google mapsaround the site, and this widget right here, Google Maps, is perfect for that.So I've already gone ahead and installed that into My Widgets.So I am going to right over here to My Widgets, and I can see that I have theGoogle Maps widget in my Widget Browser.Now, once you select a widget and install it into your widgets, you're free toconfigure that any way you would like.

So if I click on this, it will open it up and I can see presets that thedeveloper has created, such as Paris, New York, Bike Paths, and Seattle,things like that, down to My Presets.Now, when you first launch your widget, obviously you won't have any presets, soyou could go into the Configure, where you would go ahead and configure the map anyway that you would like.Now, in this case I already have a preset done.It's called Santa Barbara Trails, and it's basically just Santa Barbara biketrails, and it's a nice starting place for anybody that might be looking forbike trails around that particular area, and I think that would be a nice littleaccent within my site.

In prior releases of the Widget Browser you simply had to configure your widget,and if you were working within a team, you would probably have to send them anemail that gave all of your configuration settings.So if you click the Configure button here, for example, you can see that it'sset to a specific size, a specific latitude and longitude, a zoom, that sort of thing.Well, now in Dreamweaver CS5.5, in this release of the Widget Browser, we cannow import and export those presets.So if I choose Export and I go into my Exercise Files, I am going to go intoChapter_03 > 03_02, and I am just going to export it directly into this folder.

And I am just going to call this santa_barbara and save it. Okay.So now, if I were to select a preset that I already have and just get rid of it,so if I needed to send this to a friend or a coworker, I could just email themthat XML file, and then I can import that in.So right there is my santa_barbara XML file that we just exported out.I open it and there's my preset.So it's a really nice way of sharing those presets, or even creating backups foryourself if you would like.Now, I want to showcase another new integration feature between Dreamweaver andthe Widget Browser that I think is really cool.

What I want to do is go on my page, in Design view, and I am just going toscroll down to where I want to import my map, and that's just below this Find a bike trail.So I am just going to create a little blank paragraph right there, and then I amgoing to bring my Widget Browser back up.Prior to this, we would save our presets, and then we would use the menu optionsinside Dreamweaver or the Insert toolbar to insert a widget.Now, that functionality still works, but this is a much easier and moredirect way of doing this.I can now go right here to this little symbol, which says Drag and Drop inDreamweaver, and I can do just that.

I can go ahead and just grab that, hold the mouse down, drag this onto the filewhere I want my map, and just release.As soon as I do that, it drops my map right there on the page.Let's minimize this, save the file, and then I am going to go ahead andpreview that in my browser.And I'll just scroll down, and there's my map, ready for anybody else to use.Now, how easy was that? That's insanely easy!I love being able just to drag and drop it.Those improvements to the Widget Browser are going to make it easier for mostpeople to use it, quite frankly.

And since you don't need to install it separately now, it's going to make itmore accessible to those that might not have otherwise downloaded and installed it.It just installs directly with Dreamweaver CS5.5 now.Now, if you're looking for more information on the Widget Browser, check out itshomepage on Adobe Labs at labs.adobe.com/technologies/widgetbrowser.

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Q: This course teaches us how to create mobile app in the "Mobile App Support" chapter and the app works great. But when we try to upload to android market, it says that the Android Market can't upload a debug/release version. What's wrong with the app?

A: As mentioned in the movie, the Dreamweaver emulator support does not create deliverable apps. It is designed to act as an IDE and debugging environment only. From there it is up to the developer to package and distribute apps to the various app stores.

Take a look at https://build.phonegap.com/. It's an early service dedicated to creating deliverable binaries for multiple platforms. Since it's PhoneGap, it's also the same framework used within Dreamweaver, so Dreamweaver based apps should port right over.

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